Pages

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Eli to Elite: Super Bowl XVLI Prediection

By Steven Schweibold

Four years ago the undefeated Patriots and the scrappy
Giants faced off in one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Super Bowl of all
time. It is a game that still haunts Tom
Brady and propelled Eli Manning to that coveted title of "upper tier" quarterback status. Even with all of their success, these two
quarterbacks still have something to prove. Tom Brady hasn’t won a championship since 2005 and needs to prove that
he doesn’t need an elite defense to win the big game. Eli Manning needs another title to step out
of his brother’s shadow and become an elite level quarterback.

Statistically speaking, in the postseason these have been
very similar teams, but have taken two very different paths to get here. The
Giants had to face both the #1 and #2 seeds in the NFC on the road, while the
Patriots had home field advantage throughout the payoffs. Both teams are battle tested, but the Giants
have proven they have what it takes to win the big games against championship
caliber teams.

The Giants and the Patriots both have excellent defensive
lines and they will play a pivotal role in Sunday’s game. Just like 2008, if the Giants pass rush can
throw Brady off his game, they have a shot at stopping their passing
attack. The Patriots proved against the
Ravens that their pass rush can be the difference maker and disrupt a capable
offense. However, the Giants have a
better offense than any other team the Patriots have faced in the
postseason.

These two teams faced each other earlier this season in
November and remained scoreless up until the third quarter. Brady had three turnovers and was disrupted
for most of the game by the Giant’s defense.
Despite having one interception, Manning had a good game and benefited
from a balanced offensive attack with the Giant’s solid running game. In fact, the Giants won the game on a final
drive that had striking similarity to 2008 Super Bowl.

This game is going to be close and will be boring at times,
but I think there is a potential for this to be another classic Super
Bowl. These are two evenly matched
teams that have a recent history of close, down to the wire games. Even
though it will be close, I believe that the Giants will pull out a victory and
Eli will be elevated to elite quarterback status.